On Being Saved
by Unique Little Freak
Summary: Tom Riddle sells "wizards" as trained house maids. When Petunia comes to him begging for a man to fill the hole in her heart and home, Tom can't help but comply. Is Harry's new family really more caring than his foster-father, Tom, or is the warmth they radiate only temporary? AU non-magical. Story title and rating are subject to change. *Please read the HUGE summary inside.*
1. Prologue

**_Summary:_ **

**Years ago, Vernon Dursley died in a freak snake accident at the zoo on Dudley's 12th birthday. Now, fifteen, Dudley is used to random, living, impractical gifts from his mother, and highly suspects that she is trying to help him get over the death of his father.**

**Tom Riddle is a black market salesmen under the name of Voldemort. He sells "witches and wizards" as house maids trained in a variety of trades. When a distraught aging woman comes to him begging for a man to fill the hole in her heart and home, Tom can't help but comply.**

**Harry is a young man that has never lived a day outside the dank living quarters his foster-father, Tom, has put him in. But when Tom comes to him, shouting at him to pack all of his things, Harry's world is turned upside down. He's been sold, he realizes, to a family much more caring than his own foster-father. But is this family really more caring than his own family, or is the warmth they radiate temporary? **

* * *

_Prologue_

Almost everyday, Petunia would come home with a gift, exhaling that giggle of hers that Dudley had come to hate. The gifts were always alive and impractical. She had once bought salt water fish;

"We have to feed them once every two hours~!"

A ginormous set of Venus-fly-traps... During the winter.

"They can eat meat! Raw hamburger it is!"

Once, she even bought a cockatiel;

"Your father loved natural music in the house." (Never mind that Vernon had always been terrified of birds.)

So, when she left that morning, Dudley had prepared a rough speech about his father being dead. Yes, dead. And that nothing Petunia could do, would bring him back. Dudley stood in front of the door for hours, ringing his hands in nervous anticipation, just like his father. The door finally jiggled open and a young boy with jet-black hair stood in front of Dudley's mother. She shooed him in, Dudley following her in bewilderment as she led the boy upstairs and told him that he lived in this house now, that he could make himself comfortable and repaint the walls whatever colours he liked. That she could go buy new sheets for him, anything that his "sweet little heart could desire."

She tucked the boy in, kissing his forehead, (Dudley noticed that the boy and he were roughly the same age, and Petunia didn't kiss him on the head anymore.) and gently closed the door behind her, muttering something about "starting tomorrow."

She smiled and ushered Dudley to his own room. Dudley laid down and she pushed part of the sheets underneath his body, smiling the entire time. "Won't it be nice to have a man around the house again?"

Dudley was a man, he thought counter-productively.

"But who _is _that?"

"A maid!" she exclaimed happily, turning out his light with finality. "His name is Harry~! You'll become the best of friends in no time!"

Dudley stared at his mother's gleaming white teeth as she exited the room backwards.

Needless to say, Harry and Dudley did _not _become the best of friends.

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I do not own Harry Potter or anything else you may have recognized as J. 'S


	2. Chapter 1: Graaaaraarahhharrrrh

I woke to the sound of my mother shouting. Harry had probably burnt the bacon... again. Of course, I always tried to defend him in my mind, _Maybe his previous family liked it crunchy. _Because, really, the bacon wasn't even burnt. Just a little crunchier than my mum liked it.

Groggily, I made my way from the foot of my bed to my bathroom, rubbing my eye as I went. After a warm shower, I pulled on my Smelting's uniform, which seemed a little loose after a long summer, and started down the stairs. My mum stood next to a bored-looking Harry as he moved and flipped bacon around in a greasy pan. "Make sure that bacon is nice and greasy. We can't have our Dudikins being skinny for another year at Smeltings." She whispered in his ear threateningly. Her eyes finally moved to me as I stood in the doorway, clearly uncomfortable with the way she was treating Harry. "Look at him!" She cried, rushing to me with tears in her eyes. "You're so skinny, it's unhealthy!"

I bit my lip and turned away, I wasn't skinny, not at all. I had worked very hard over the summer to lose as much weight as I could, which actually only ended up being about ten pounds. "No, It's fine. I'm not. I mean, hungry, that is."

"Oh, dearest Dudders~!" She cried in anguish, as I grimaced behind her at my nickname. "Wasting away to nothing!"

"I'll eat an egg, I guess." Anything to make her shut up.

I poked and prodded at the food my mum had made Harry make for me. It looked good, and Harry was an amazing cook, but I wasn't hungry, not really. I ate a few bites of bacon and egg, relishing in the perfect textures and delicious tastes. I looked up at Harry who was gnawing around a fatty piece of bacon uneventfully. Our eyes met and I suddenly felt compelled to say something, _anything_. I took a breath, ready to thank him for such hard work around the house, but my mum cut me off, "Dudley~!" she sang, "Your bus is here~!"

Harry quickly licked his lips and stood, taking my plate and his and walking to the sink. I headed for the front door, my mum was sitting in my father's old chair knitting socks, happily. She was saying something, but my mind was still in the dining room with Harry. As I closed the door, I heard the garbage disposal running.

Graaaaraarahhharrrrh

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The dress code. We have to wear our uniforms, not alterations, no additions, no jewelry, no hats, no piercings, no anything but regulation shirts, shorts and pants, and shoes.

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_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

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Sexual harassment. No unwanted touching, sexual gestures, slurs. Don't do anything with other people. No holding hands, no kissing. Nothing but smiles and handshakes.

.

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

_Graaaaraarahhharrrrh_

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That's the only thing I heard all day. It haunted me when I went to the bathroom, as I walked the hallways, while teachers lectured over the handbook. It was terrifying. It was terrifying to think about what the noise meant. It was terrifying to think; _Who knew a noise could be so lonely?_


End file.
